Vehicle-brake.



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Patented Oct. 2, |900.

lnulllllllll "mum 'l J. D'VIS.

VEHIICLE BBAKE. (Application lec'i' Apr. 14, 1900.)

annum mm i |||ll[|||| I' @Ntra STATES FFIC JAMES DAVIS, OF BUTLER SPRINGS, ALABAMA.

VEHICLE-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 659,136, dated October 2, 1900.

Application filed April 14, 1900.

To all whom, it may concern.'

Be it known that l, JAMES DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Butler Springs, in the county of Butler and State of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Vehicle-Brake, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to brakes for vehiclessuch as wagons, carriages, Zo-and the primary object of the invention is to provide a brake of improved construction which will be automatic in its action, being applied by the movement of the tongue of the vehicle due to the holding back of the horses in going downhill, but may be readily set so as to he inoperative in order to permit of the backing of the team.

With this object in view my invention consists in the improved construction, arrangement, and combinationA of parts hereinafter fully described and afterward specically pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings forming a part of this speci- 'fic-ation, Figure 1 is a top plan view of the running-gear of a dead-bed wagon equipped with brake mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the complete Wagon, the tongue being cut off and the lower part of the wheels broken away. Fig. 8 is a View showing the running-gear in longitudinal vertical section and the body in side elevation, the upper part of the body being broken away. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the forward part of the wagon, parts being broken away.

Wherever the same parts appear in the different figures they will be indicated by the same reference-numerals.

Referring to the drawings lby numerals, 1 indicates the front axle, 2 the rear axle, 3 and 4 the front and rear wheels, 5 the couplingpole, G and 7 the hounds, 8 the tongue, 9 the brake-beam, and 10 11 the brake-shoes, all of these parts being of any usual wellknown construct-ion, the rear axle being fixed and the front axle pivoted on the king-bolt or coupling-pin 12 and the tongue pivoted on a horizontal pin 13 in the usual manner. To the brake-beam 9 are secured parallel longitudinal rods 14 15, passing forward to and Serial No. 12,870. (No model.)

beyond the front axle and bent downward at their forward ends at 16 and connected by a cross-rod 17.

18 19 indicate brackets secured to the tongue in the same vertical longitudinal plane and at a short distance apart to receive between them the cross-rod 17. The brackets extend upwardly adjacent to or directly above the pivotal point of the tongue, so that their upper ends will be swung in the arc of a circle and engage with the cross -rod 17, and thereby move the brake rods and set the brake when the end of the tongue is raised.

The brake-beam 9 is slidably mounted. in brackets or keepers 2O in the usual manner.

21 indicates a hand-lever pivotally mounted in a staple 22 on the front of the body and guided in a keeper 22a. The lower end of this lever is bent laterally at right angles, as at 23, and again downward at 24.

In operation, as long as the hand-lever is at the left of its movelnent, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the end 24 is clear of the brake-rods and the brake is free to be operated. In pulling on level ground or uphill the tongue will be substantially in horizontal alinement with the coupling-pole, and the cross-rod 17, engaging' between the brackets 18 and 19, will hold the brake-beam forward and the brake-shoes out of contact with the wheels. As soon, however, as the horses back or start downhill their holding back will elevate the tongue, shortening the distance between the space between the brackets 18 19 and the rear wheels and pressing the brake rods and beam backward and the brake-shoes into contact with the wheels.

It will be obvious that the harder the horses hold back the greater the pressure exerted on the wheels by the brake-shoes, so that the application of the brake will not only be automatic, but the pressure will be regulated by the grade of the road and the weight of the load.

When it is desired to back the wagon without applying the brake, the hand-lever will be pushed to the right, causing its end 24 to drop in the rear of cross-rod 17 and act as a lock to prevent the brake from being pushed backward.

IOO

Although I have illustrated the application of my invention to a dead-bed wagon, it will readily be understood that it may be applied with equal facility to all kinds of wheeled vehicles.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a wagon-brake, the combinationJ with the tongue, of two staples projecting npwardly therefrom at a slight distance apart and adjacent to the pivotal point, a brakebeam, forwardly-extending rods secured to said beam, the front ends of which are bent downward and provided with a cross-bar to lit between the brackets, and a lever pivotally secured above said rods, the lower end of which is bent laterally and then downwardly and is adapted to be moved into and ont of the path of cross-bar to the rear thereof.

JAMES DAVIS.

Witnesses:

CONERED WALTERS, J. J. WRIGHT. 

